Deacon Steve's Homily - 15th Sunday Ordinary – cycle A - Listen to Jesus

We are in the middle of summer vacation and for all the students and teachers I would like to have an English lesson. I would like to discuss ‘Paraprosdokians’ with all of you. Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is

surprising or unexpected. You need to listen closely to the sentence or phrase to get the full meaning. Winston Churchill, Graucho Marx, & Bill Cosby were real fans of paraprosdokians. Let’s listen to some: 1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it. 2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you ... but it's still on my list. 3. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong. 4. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. 5. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

6. Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't. 
7. I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure any more. These are wonderful because they make you pay attention. 

They make you listen closely because the sentence generally ends in a funny or unlikely way. Listening closely to Jesus is something we need to do as well and that is what we hear in today’s Gospel from Matthew. Jesus is teaching the people. He is teaching with parables; his words are often difficult for the average person to understand. The people need to listen closely so they can understand his teachings.  

This parable is about the Sower and the Seed. Let’s listen closely to Jesus’ words: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.” These are difficult teachings for the people and the apostles to understand.

Even though they may have listened closely, Jesus has to explain it to them.    “The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time.  When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.  But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”’

We hear Jesus discuss the ‘word’ in this reading. Remember the beginning of John’s Gospel – the prologue? In the beginning was the ‘word’ and the ‘word’ was made flesh.’My friends, Jesus himself is the ‘word’ that John describes. And Jesus is teaching the people how important it is to listen to the ‘word’, to listen to him. He is teaching the people how important it is to allow him, the ‘word’, to transform their hearts and their lives.

How do we listen closely to Jesus?  We have to work at it.  Just like tending a garden is work, tending our souls is work, too. Our souls must be prepared. Most of us here, have been baptized and confirmed in the church. That in itself, is transformative, but we must do more. We have the sacrament of Eucharist to feed our souls; we have the sacrament of Reconciliation to heal our souls. We have sacred scripture which we can read and reflect upon each day. We have the mass where we can encounter Jesus in our priest, in each other, in scripture, and most intimately in the Eucharist. We can practice charity at home, at work, in our communities, and throughout the world. By doing these things, our souls become ‘rich soil’ in which we better understand the ‘word’ and it can bear abundant fruit.  Imagine how different our world would be if everyone was ‘rich soil’ and listened closely to Jesus? If we just listen and live his 2 great commandments. ‘Love God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul. ‘And, Love you neighbor as yourself.’ Living in a world of love for God and neighbor would bear abundant fruit of peace and harmony! I ask you this, ‘who would not want that?’ Last fall, Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation The Joy of the Gospel was released. Throughout the book the pope reminds all of us that as follower of Christ we should be a people of great joy.  We shouldn’t be afraid to share that joy with all those people we encounter each and every day. So with that in mind here’s one more paraprosdokian to ponder:  Some people cause happiness wherever they go; Other people cause happiness whenever they go.  This week, my friends, may we be a people who always cause happiness wherever we go. We do that by listening closely to Jesus and allowing his words to bear abundant fruit in our lives.

Homily week 15 - cycle A - Listen and understand God's Word and you'll be blessed

         My daughter was married in May and I took a week off from serving due to all our family being in town for the wedding. We were all not able to make Sunday Mass until the evening and we went to a 7pm Mass at St. Thomas More.   At the end of Mass a lady came up to speak. She was dressed in tropical attire, had a lei on her neck, and flowers in her hair.  She also had some props: a little palm tree and a bucket of sand.  She invited all the youth to come on a trip next week where they would be flying to a tropical island and spending a week on the beach enjoying the sunshine.  As we were driving home one of our extended family members said: I sure wish our church could afford to send us a nice trip like that.    My wife and I got a chuckle this.   Our family member thought they were really going on a trip, but she was really talking about a tropical themed Vacation Bible School.   She heard the message, but didn’t understand. 

The sower of the seed in Jesus’ parable sounds like he is being a bit wasteful

spreading the seed everywhere: on the path, rocks, among thorns, and in rich soil.  I asked my son after we read the Gospel this week what he thought if I sprinkled the seed everywhere like the sower did in our garden.  We have a small garden with stepping stones surrounded by a rock and grass border. He said it would be a waste and thought the seed should only go in the fertile soil.  

The people of Jesus’ time thought it would be even more of a waste. 

Seed was a very precious commodity and none was wasted, as it was very hard to get. You couldn’t just run down to Home Depot if your seed ran out. 

Also Jerusalem and the surrounding area was mostly hard and rocky ground.

It required hard work to prepare the soil to be fertile.   You’d only plant seeds in areas that you knew they would grow. 

But Jesus uses the sower and seed to represent God and his word.   The different type of ground where the seed is scattered represents us. Sometimes we’re very fertile and prepared to receive Gods’ word.   Other times we’re like the path, rocky ground, or surrounded by thorns.   We may hear the word, but we don’t really listen and understand.   We’re not ready for it to bear fruit, to achieve the end for which God’s word was sent.  But God sends his word anyway because he is a generous lover.   His word is sent for all to hear and doesn’t expect anything in return.  It’s freely given in love.  He sends it regardless of whether we listen and understand, because he knows there will be time when we are ready.

Later on in the parable Jesus tells the apostles: “blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear”.   He sends his blessing because they not only hear, but they also listen and understand and will bear fruit yielding a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.  Today, 2000 years later, we experience the fruit of their understanding through the spread Christ’s Church through their ministry.  This is good news.  If we listen to the word of God we are blessed and we will bear great fruit. 

Who here is blessed because they listen and understand God’s Word? 

Now lets ask another way, who here is blessed because the understand all the time?    I can’t even raise my hand on that one. We all have many distractions in our lives that keep us from listening and understanding the word of God.  We have trials, anxieties, worries, and the pursuit of worldly riches that can distract us.  Have you ever been at Mass where your mind distracted during the readings and then you were confused trying to make sense of the homily? I’ve been there myself, but not as often as used to.  

How do we become better at listening and understanding the Word of God so it can bear fruit that God intends?  One good way is to take some quiet time weekly to prepare by read the Sunday readings prior to coming to the Mass.   Shut off the phone, computer, and TV and find a quiet area to read and reflect on the readings. You may also want take time as a family and do this together.    My son and I read the readings, each taking turns, and then reflect and discuss what they meant to us. There’s also a very good method call Lectio Divina where you prayerfully read and reflects on scripture.  After reading take some time to reflect on what they mean to you.  Try to get to Mass early if you can to prayerfully quiet down to hear the Word of God.  After Mass discuss with your family or friends how God’s word can make a difference in your life for the next week.  By preparing to receive the word of God you’ll be surprised at the fruit it bears. 

What about when you are struggling with the trails in your life and you feel far away from God? This can be a good time to turn to the God’s word.   You may not feel like praying and struggle to find the words.   I was there last night when I heard the news of the loss of our parishioner, Bill Gilliland.   I turned to the Psalms to help focus my mind on God and provide some consolation.  When you can’t find the words to pray during a tough time, God’s Word is there to help. 

God in his generosity and love make his word available to us whether we are fertile or rocky soil.  I pray that you all become better at listening and understanding the Word of God so you too will be blessed and bear the fruit that God intends for your lives.

Freedoms we enjoy today and looking back to our founders

On the 4th of July I attended Mass at St. Martin parish in Amityville NY. The priest's homily reflected on principles that the USA was founded on: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He focused on the importance of life from conception to natural death and also liberty, specifically freedom of religion. Our freedom of religion is being threatened today and we need to be vigilant in protecting this freedom. He used the prayers of Archbishop Carroll for the inauguration of George Washington as an example of how precious freedom of religion and reliance on God was to our founding fathers. The prayers over 235 years ago are just as appropriate for today.    So we look back to the prayer of Archbishop John Carroll, the prayer written for the inauguration of our first president. His words speak to us still today.

Almighty and eternal God, assist with your spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides. May he encourage due respect for virtue and religion. May he execute the laws with justice and mercy. May he seek to restrain crime, vice, and immorality. Let the light of your divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government. May they seek to preserve peace, promote national happiness, and continue to bring us the blessings of liberty and equality. May we [all] be preserved in union and that peace which the world cannot give; and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. We pray to you, who are Lord and God, for ever and ever. (“Prayer for an Inauguration,” Book of Blessings, para. 1965)

God bless you all and have a safe 4th of July with family and friends. 

The essence of love is forgiveness.

 The essence of love is forgiveness. This was one of the main ideas from Fr. Joe's homily that really struck me from the Sunday Mass for the Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul. He mentions that these two men had the similarities of both being prisoners and also were responsible for spreading the Gospel to Gentils (Paul) and Jews (Peter). In fact both have letters attributed to them in the New Testament, Peter had two, and Paul had 13, with the majority of Acts written about him. The other thing these two had in common was their betrayal of Jesus. Peter denied out Lord three times at his trial and Paul was persecuting and killing Christians. Our Lord forgave both of these men and had an important role for them through his forgiving love, the spread of his Church through the proclamation of Jesus. 

Forgiveness can be very hard for us, but if we forgive we are being the person of Jesus. By doing so we are showing loved and proclaiming Jesus good news. 

Fr. Joe closed with a reflection of his priesthood and the joy that it brought him. He really exudes that joy. In seeing such joy it is a great example of vocation we should encourages for our sons and daughters to serve the church as priest, deacon, or religious sister or brothers.   We all want our children to be happy and I think we see both Fr. Joe and Fr. Vince being great examples of happiness.   Please pray about how to encourage our children to consider a life of serving the Church. May God bless you.  

Pentecost: Come Holy Spirit Come

 

Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost.   Father Joe shared a pray which is one of my favorites:

Come Holy Spirit Come

Fill the hearts of your faithful

And enkindle in them the fire of your love

Send forth your spirit and they shall be created

And you will renew the face of the earth

This is a prayer that I pray quite often before proclaiming the Gospel, preaching homilies, and many

times when I am entering situations where I just need some guidance on the right words to say in a challenging situation.  Sometimes it’s only the first verse.   But I am really amazed at what happens many times.  It’s only possible through the Holy Spirit working in me.

Fr. Joe mentioned some challenging situations we all have in our lives that may need reconciling.   Don’t go alone in these situations.  Call on the assistance of the Holy Spirit for help. 

Come Holy Spirit come.

Deacon Steve's Homily - Jesus shows us the way, Ascension of The Lord

Today is the feast of the Ascension and we celebrate Jesusascending into heaven.

On this day, nearly 2000 years ago, the historical Jesus,the resurrected Jesus, leaves this earth.

We just read that Jesus was with his apostles when he ascended.  

Imagine what it must have been like to be there.

Imagine what must have gone through their minds when they witnessed this event.

We know that some of the apostles had their doubts when they arrive at the mountain.

We just read in Matthew’s Gospel:

When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.

They had their doubts before they even arrived.

One would think that watching Jesus being lifted up would erase those doubts.

Soon after, though, they probably had the following feelings and emotions.

They must have been sad knowing that Jesus was gone and they probably weren’t going to see him again.

They must have gone into mourning, as we all do at the loss of a loved one.

Perhaps they were angry.

Perhaps they felt that Jesus had abandoned them and left them to fend for themselves in the world.

And now they were all alone.

 

These are certainly understandable feelings and emotions that they must have experienced.

But we know the ‘rest of the story’.

We know that on Pentecost Sunday, the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Those fears and feelings of anger and abandonmentcertainly went away.

We know that the Church grew and that Jesus became present in the sacramental life of the Church.

We know that Jesus is with us always and that he never abandoned us.

So why do we celebrate the Ascension?

The answer lies in the following words from today'sPreface that Father Joe will pray in a few short minutes:

"Christ... ascended not to distance himself from our lowly state, but that we his members might be confident of following where he, our Head and Founder, has gone before”.

If Jesus had not ascended into heaven we would have nohope or confidence in heaven for ourselves.

The ascension itself gives us that confidence in the reality of heaven for each of us.

My friends, how wonderful is that?

I’d like to share a story that I recently read that seems fitting for this beautiful feast.

Years ago, a Catholic missionary was preaching in the open square of a village in North India. 

As he finished, a Muslim gentleman approached him and said:

"You must admit we have one thing you do not have, and it is better than anything you have."

The missionary smiled and said, "I would be pleased to hear what it is."

The Muslim went on, "You know, that when we go toMecca we find at least a coffin. But when you Christians go to Jerusalem, your Mecca, you find nothing but anempty tomb."

The Missionary replied, "Ah ha! But that's just it, and it makes all the difference. Mohammad, the founder of Islam, is dead, and he is in his coffin. But our Leader hasrisen from the dead and has returned to heaven."

As followers of Christ, we don't just believe in aphilosophy we believe in a person, a Savior.

Each Sunday when we recite our creed we say:

I believe in Jesus Christ who suffered, died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.  

In doing so, Jesus took our own human nature with himinto heaven.

And that my friends, is what gives us the confidence that following Jesus will lead us to heaven.

This past week, Pope Francis went on a historicalpilgrimage to the Holy Land.

To see the ground that Jesus himself walked on.

I have never had the good fortune to go to Israel.

I read about an ancient tradition that has preserved amonument on the Mount of Olives.

On the monument it is written that Jesus left his footprintsin the rocks as he ascended into heaven.

That's the point. 

Jesus has gone into heaven, not to abandon us, but to be our hope and to give us confidence.

Jesus has led the way for each and every human being.

Jesus has left us the trail of his footprints so that we can follow him to the joys of eternal life.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we just read:

“May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones…”

When we come forward to receive our Lord in Holy Communion, let’s pray that God will enlighten the eyes of our hearts so that we can better understand the feast of the Ascension and God’s plan for us.

 

May we remember that God himself wants us to spend eternity with him.

May we follow Jesus footsteps as we journey towards His heavenly kingdom.

God bless!

 

Deacon Ron's Homily - Ascension of Jesus: Opening the doorway to heaven

“Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?”     

If I were one of the apostles I’d surely think this was a silly question.   I would have been

totally dumbfounded staring up at the sky as well, thinking what in the world just happened here?  My response to the men would be, “Didn’t you see what just happened here?   Jesus, who had risen from the dead just 40 days ago, after being crucified, has now been taken up out of site into the clouds.  I’m scared, confused, and really don’t know what’s going on.”

 Now fast forward to 2014 and just try to imagine that you are at our fall festival and you see one of your friends talking to Father Vince, and all of the sudden Fr. Vince is lifted up in the clouds and taken from your sight? What would think?   Wouldn’t you be staring up at the sky in the same way thinking? “wow, that must be the new festival ride everyone is talking about.   How do I get signed up for that?”   Just kidding.

Now seriously, you’d probably be just as scared and confused as the apostles were at seeing Jesus taken up in the clouds to heaven.  But these men who spoke were angels sent by God to give the apostles some hope of what was to come. Jesus who was taken up in the clouds would return in the same way as they saw him going into heaven.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension.   This is a dogma of our faith that we recite weekly in the Nicene Creed,  “He Ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”   What did this mean to the disciples and what does it mean to us today?

Jesus had endured his suffering on the cross, rising from the dead, and had been with the disciples for forty days.   He had appeared showing many time after enduring his suffering and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God.   But the apostles were still focused on the issue of day: to restore the kingdom of Israel.  But Jesus had a greater plan in mind for them.   They were going to be his witness to the ends of the earth about Jesus and coming of the God’s Kingdom.

How was this going to happen:  Through the power of the Holy Spirit.   In order for the Jesus to fully accomplish his plan he had to leave and ascend to the Father in order to send the Holy Spirit.    The apostles had been following Jesus the past three years, but they now had other work to do to spread the Gospel.    If Jesus were still physically present they’d be reliant totally on him.  But by ascending to heaven they’d be given the power to accomplish great things through the Holy Spirit.  

Jesus in his humanity in ascending into heaven also accomplished something else: He opened up the doorway for of heaven to the rest of humanity.   Jesus now is seated at the right hand of the Father, and is a powerful intercessor for humanity to reconcile us with God.   By Jesus opening up this doorway he’s bridging the gap between heaven and earth.   Where do we find that bridge in the world: in the Church.

By Jesus’ ascending the Holy Spirit would be sent to the apostles so they could spread the good news to accomplish his plan: the birth of the Church.  In the book of Acts we hear about the apostles witness about Jesus in their travels far and wide.   They face many trials and tribulations in their travels and even have to flee from one town to another to escape from being killed.   But this again is part of the plan to spread the Gospel and for the Church to grow.  How do they do all this?   Through the power of the Holy Spirit, which is mentioned over 80 times in the book of Acts.  The Holy Spirit enabled the growth of the Church and gave the apostles the power to do great things.

St. Paul tells us that the Father put Jesus above every principality, authority, and dominion and he also gave him the Church as head over all things on the earth.    The Church is Christ’s body and where heaven meets the earth.  What and who is the Church?  It’s each and every one of us, as the body of Christ, trying to do our own part in making heaven and earth meet.  

And how do we do this?  By our actions with others to announce the good news and be Christ like to them.   To strengthen us in this mission we come together as we are today to receive the grace of the Eucharist, hear the Gospel proclaimed, and listen to Holy Spirit inspired preaching.   We also need to take time every day to pray. We have a reminder of this in the prayer of the Our Father when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.    We are hopefully bringing about the kingdom of God to make heaven on earth by our actions inspired by the Holy Spirit. 

  

The world today certainly struggles with a lack of heaven on earth.  There is lack of respect for life and dignity of the human person, threats to our religious liberty, and a culture that seems to be turning away from God.  By living out the commission we hear at the end of Mass: Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life or Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord, we can bring a little heaven to earth. Each of us, with the power of the Holy Spirit, can do our part through the people we encounter in our daily lives and by supporting the Church’s ministries.   We can say a kind word to the person who rubs us the wrong way at home or work. Invite a classmate at school to play to that we normally don’t include.  Volunteer our time to go on a mission trip or sacrifice financially to support ministries in our parish, archdiocese, and the global church to care for those who are the most vulnerable. 

Don’t just stand there looking up at the sky.   Take some action to spread the Gospel in word and deed inspired by the Holy Spirit to help carry our Jesus’ plan to bring about the Kingdom of God here on earth.  May God bless you!